Hot and Cold

Today when I went to school it was 75 degrees. Tonight, this is what is on my trash can. It amazes me how it can alter so much! I wish my car were out in the elements for a snowy/sleety picture. She is tucked in the garage though and will be nice and warm in the morning when I have to go to work. I could only use the trash can because my glasses are from 8th grade and I can't see very well! So that is all I could see that had anything on it. The car across the street is covered, but i'm not going to go out in my pjs to take a picture of that!



I think I need to move someplace where it actually snows. Maybe one season will get it out of my system...

Windmill

This is the second time that i've seen this convoy of windmill blades while driving up to school. The first time there was one truck with two blades. This time there were two trucks with two blades each. They are massive. Huge. Enormous. I can't imagine how large the actual windmill is. I saw them being made on "Really Big Things" one time. They're amazing.

Junior League

This is where I have been for the last 5 days. More or less, I have been in this booth more than my own home. I am so glad that my shifts are over and am guilty others will take over the task of smiling and selling. Today I heard this "You are the sales woman...nice job...I'll take 3 (instead of just two)."

I had to chuckle inside. As a salesperson I am not. I stand back. I let people smell our candles. I do not push them into anyone's face or ask them if they'd like to smell. I give them the information that they need and back away. Maybe this is good, maybe not. All I know is that i'm exhausted and going to go to bed as soon as I can get this load of laundry into the dryer.

Up early tomorrow to prepare for mom, dad, grandma and grandpa's arrivals.


Bad lighting, but in focus.

Salt and Pepper

I had my hair cut yesterday. So, today while in the bathroom at work, under the wonderful lighting, I saw my reality. All of the color is out of my hair and all that is left are gray hairs sprouting out. I mentioned it to RJ at the office and she said that she pulls out her gray and I told her today that if I pulled out all of the gray on the top of my head, it would take hours and I could quite possibly be bald...

27...and having to dye all of my hair to cover up the gray.

I guess things could be worse. I could have had my toes amputated. Thanks for the reality check Jill.

Dot the Dolphin

I just got the ole scanner working again. This is Dot from the cruise to the Bahamas. It was super cool being that close to a really big dolphin. She had a baby in the lagoon with her and would leave to make sure her baby wasn't going too far away. Then she would come back and the baby would be following her. There was a familiar look in her eyes when she would look at you. It was awesome.

Camping

Growing up, camping wasn't much of a family activity. I went with Girl Scouts a few times and we slept in cabins. We had fires and roasted marshmallows and slept in sleeping bags. We fought off daddy long leg spiders and drew things on the top of the cabin with our flashlights for the others to guess. About 6 years ago I went camping with some friends. Then again a few months later and more recently i've been about 3-4 times in the last few years. I absolutely love it. Germs don't bother me when i'm camping. I still carry my Purell and am careful not to touch too much with super dirty hands, but I don't need to shower 18 times a day and clothes can be worn more than once. I think it's a very freeing experience for my crazy mind. So this weekend I went with Tam and the kids and the Carr's. Tam, the kids and I left Austin around 2:30p and drove out to Garner State Park.

We arrived around 6p. The park was closed and supposedly super full, so we didn't know where our camp site was. We found the park store, fortunately and contacted the park police. They informed us to pick a spot and go to the office in the morning. So we drove around, in the dark, looking for a spot. We finally found one, found out there was no water or electricity and decided it would do. Much to my dismay as the idea of not having water or electricity freaked me out a bit at first. After my panic attack, I set up the tent. Fortunatly M was in the helpful mood and held flashlights and hammered (attempted) in stakes. The Carr's showed up around 10 but we had all gone to bed as it was about 40 degrees and we had a charcoal fire to cook, but it's not very bone warming...

I think we heard that it was 36 degrees while we slept on Saturday night. I felt it. The moment my head poked out of my sleeping bag, I retreated. My ears and nose were frozen.

Sunday we were supposed to go to Lost Maples, but heard there was an hour wait to get into the park, so we hiked the "easy" trail instead. It was straight up, not my idea of easy. Rocks, dirt and more rocks. We saw an Armadillo! My first live Armadillo. They hop when they run. It was hilarious. And apparently the only excitement. I did save M from tumbling down the mountain. He said that I saved his life...I think that may have been an exaggeration. It was a good hike. It wasn't exactly the best hiking trail for a bunch of kids and a tiny baby in a carrier though... And, although we didn't get to the cave that we originally set out for, the view and experience was just as much fun.

We also hung out by the Frio River and threw rocks across the river using trees as target practice. There were many rock sculptures created and the leaves of the trees along the river had turned a vibrant orange. But only along the river. In some of the aerial (from our hike) pictures you can see the S of the river with the color of the trees.

Sunday night wasn't much easier to sleep. It was much warmer, but the wind has picked up a considerable amount. The tent was flapping in the wind as we weren't blocked by any trees. Fortunately the tent held and we didn't fly away. I can't say it didn't cross my mind if it was possible. It also started to rain. The rain fly was on top of the tent, but sometimes the water still manages it's way into the seams. I don't know how, but everything stayed pretty dry. A few small drops made their way in, but it was only this morning that I found them.

We packed up and made our way back to Austin this morning. G had bronchitis last week and was still feeling puny, so we left as soon as things were ready.

Now I am home and doing laundry. It's been a packed few weeks and it's time to decompress before round two: The Junior League Christmas Show (selling candles) and Thanksgiving and then, the Armadillo.

On a different note, some of my family is coming into town for Thanksgiving and i'm incredibly excited to see them all!

Here are a few of the many pics taken this weekend

Garner State Park Camping

Pumpkin Carving

I get the wonderful challenge of carving pumpkins. At least I have for the last couple of years. M & G "draw" an idea of what they want on their pumpkin and I am then to do my best at conveying their art in a pumpkin carving. A Devil saying "boo" and a dog were the lucky ones this year. The dog doesn't have enough light coming through and it's hard taking pictures at night of pumpkins! That is what I have decided.

Halloween Scout

Scout was a bee for her first Halloween. She loathed the entire experience and my laughing probably did not help her any...

Pouting

Red Bud

I took Scout to Red Bud Park a few weeks ago so that she could play in the water. It is a leash free park and there are always tons of dogs. She doesn't listen very well, but hasn't been lost yet (knock on wood) so things are good. She LOVES playing in the water, but won't swim yet.

Ok, Ok...

As if I actually need to list out the 7 random/quirky things about myself, here's what i've come up with. Oh, yeah, and i'm not tagging anyone else because there is no one else. However, if you faithful readers want to post a comment with your 7 quirky things...feel free. No pressure.

1. I don’t like it when my sheets or pillowcase are hot when I get into bed. They must be cold and not have any residual warmth from people/animals. In the same category, my pillow is sacred. It never touches the ground, is covered when I leave so it can’t be used as a bed for the kitties.

2. I can count the number of things that I’ve lost in the last 10 years. Two! My Oakley watch that I’m sure was on the bathroom counter and a cat pushed it off into the trash and without noticing, I threw it out. Then there is the digital camera I lost after my Shiner Bike Ride in 2006. I drove back to Shiner to try to find it along the road when I had to stop to get something from the trunk. I was convinced it would be there. I found the spot, but not the camera. It still bothers me greatly that they’re gone. I have had the same wallet since high school, quite possibly sooner. My driver’s license has never had to be replaced and all new cell phones are upgrades, not replacements.

3. I obsess about things that I’d like to be able to do until I can do it well. Currently, it’s the Ripstick. If you don’t know what a Ripstick is, Google it. It’s comparable to skateboarding. Which I can’t do at all, but the desire isn’t there, so I don’t care so much. But this Ripstick thing is driving me nuts! Ok, I obsess about EVERYTHING...

4. I only drink Iced Tea & Water 90% of the time. I love Pepsi (sorry KC) and Dr. Pepper more than life itself, but as a test for myself In January of 2007 I wanted to see how long I could go without drinking it. It’s almost been two years. Now, I am unable to drink anything else. I will feel like I’ve failed…

5. I typically carry my camera around with me at all times so I don’t ever miss an opportunity to get a picture of something great.

6. It’s taken me since I was tagged weeks ago to actually put a label to my random/quirky things. They’re just there!

7. I brush my teeth in the shower. They feel cleaner.

And PS - I don't like mayo. Only in Tuna Salad will I eat mayo.

Been Awhile

I've slacked on this whole blog thing recently. School, work, work, school. Oh, and some softball in between. I've been working on this website: www.francarlisle.com. It's almost finished! YAY!

Back in September I headed down to the Austin City Limits Music Festival. I wasn't planning on going, but as it turned out, I went for a day. I missed my sister. It's just not the same...

I was able to see Robert Plant and Alison Krauss on Sat. night of ACL with the Carrs. That was fun. I had to ask Jeff who Robert Plant was. Shhhh, don't tell anyone. I knew he was important, just didn't know he was Led Zeppelin important.




I've been messing around with Photoshop too. Distorting pictures and colors of photos that i've taken. I know I am a little late jumping on this train, but never had the desire to teach myself until now.

Here's one from the kite festival.


and T's Luna.

There's more. I know. I'm tired.

Trip to Cali for Cousins Wedding

In the beginning of September the Frazees from all over the US met in Long Beach for the first grandchild's wedding! It was the first time that all of the grandchildren on the Frazee side of the family had been together in one place at one time. There are only 7 of us, but it obviously is difficult when two are from GA (TX), two are from MN and 3 are in CA.

I took tons more pictures, but with my dad's camera and I have yet to get that link to that album (HINT, HINT).

I had a great time. We drove around Long Beach and by my old house, school, jobs dad had, beaches mom took us to and old landmarks that I remember on my way home from Grandma & Grandpa's house. The Goodyear Blimp was still flying around and the Bug Squasher was still watching that mouse with the mallet behind his back. It used to be huge, but it was much smaller when we saw it this go round.



I had a fantastic time with my family and an even better time hanging out with my cousins and sister all together.

I can't wait until we all get together again.

From Trip to Cali

And more pictures from Dad's camera.

Roach Evicted!

So I was driving back to the office the other day. Minding my own business wondering if the traps I had set had taken that ugly roach to wherever roaches go when they are poisoned. Then, out of the corner of my eye, something was moving along the door, where the window meets the passenger door. I calmly freaked out as I was between two cars on a road, driving...slowly, but driving still. I searched the recently cleaned out car for something I could swipe at the dirty, unnecessary to the planet, roach. Nothing. I had nothing. I had a few bank statements that would do nothing but make him mad and quite possibly fly at my head causing me to swerve, slam on my brakes or cause some horrific accident. Finally I found a badge from a show that we had done for work. It was the thick plastic kind, so I was in luck. I had rolled the window down thinking the wind would just calmly sweep it out. No such luck. Plan B started. I waited until I knew I had a shot at it. I checked my rear view mirror, checked the car in front of me, counted to 3 and in my cat-like movements shoved the roach out the window. I have never been so happy! It was a proud moment. I think it is probably safe to take the traps out of the car. They're ruining that new car smell.

Eww

I have a tree roach living inside my sweet car. It hangs out on the dashboard and when I get into the car, it scurries under the panel. I'm grossed out beyond all gross things. I can't stand those huge, gross, tree roaches.

::shudder::

Esther

There is a woman next door to the flip house. Her name is Esther. I don't know how old she is, but I would guess around 70 or so. I think she's from Africa. She hasn't seen her family that lives there in six years. She walks over, barefoot, everyday. I wasn't there for the first month or so of the project, but ever since i've been over there she comments about how hard we're working and asks why we are working so hard. She is incredibly religious and says that "God will bring the people" to buy the house. That always makes me giggle a little. It's not her belief that makes me laugh, but I always see this little comic God as a realtor. And that makes me laugh...

The last couple of times that I have been at the house she brings me food. Chicken, some potatoes, and veggies. She used to bring it to us while we were all working. She'd bring four little bowls full of homemade food. Now, i'm bringing it home. Some of it is fantastic and some of it is a little suspicious looking. She told me yesterday that if any of us ever want her to cook us something that we just have to bring her the food and she will cook it. She said that she has time and it is a part of her life that she enjoys taking care of us.

Today she came inside the house while I was painting the closet doors in one of the bedrooms and she told me that she cooks for us because she loves us and she doesn't know what she's going to do when we leave the house. She takes care of an older woman. "The old lady" as she refers to her. Apparently the "old lady" doesn't eat with Esther and that is why she has leftovers. It's very hard to understand her accent, but that is what I gathered. Esther is always smiling. She is always in the yard piling up leaves, taking out the trash, cleaning up around the house. I think a little part of all of us will miss Esther when the house sells.

Finished Product

So here is the deck in almost finished mode. Just some stain will complete this project and i'm fairly certain I will NOT be the one staining this thing. I have painted and re-painted. I have used a nail gun (scary) for the first time and learned a crazy amount of information about building decks. I also learned that fire ants like to make their home in sod. As we hand carried the new sod to the side of the house on Saturday I was bitten only twice, but they still itch and are red and welty. If that's even a word. I'm hoping to get some before and after pics of the entire house from Jeff. That way I can even see the progress. Everything is on the back of the house. The right part of the house was also added. All of the grass is sod that we put down in 100 degree heat. No one in Texas was putting in sod at that time. We had not had any rain and so we all took shifts watering the yard. Turning the sprinkler on and off and making sure we didn't get caught watering on our non-watering day.

Another Trip

So much to say, so many stories, they will have to wait as i'm exhausted, but here are a few pictures of my recent adventure to NY for a Yankee Stadium hello and farewell.

Yankee Stadium

Stories to follow...

Disney Cruise

On the 2nd we boarded a plane for Orlando. On the 3rd the Disney cruise left Port Canaveral and headed toward Castaway Cay, their private island. We snorkeled in the ocean, M raced crabs. It reminded me of the Turtle races in Longville. Two circles on the ground and someone releases all the crabs at one time and everyone yells as though it will propel their crab toward the outer circle. There were three heats and then the finals. Fortunately M's crab made it to the finals. Then it bonked. I think I should've massaged it's little crab legs a little bit more and he could've pulled it out. His crab was #5 if you can read the numbers on the shells. We boarded the ship again and by 5p we were out of Castaway Cay on our way to Nassau, Bahamas. We woke up in the Bahamas and it was quite a shock compared to the private island. There was only a tram on Castaway Cay. Nassau was teaming with three other cruise ships, people and mopeds everywhere. We went from our ship to a boat to go to the Dolphin encounter. It's an encounter because you don't actually swim with them. You stand waist deep in the water and they come up to you. We got hugs, kisses, a dance and did a trick with Dot, the dolphin before our time was up. I will post those pictures when I get them. We forgot any form of money when we left the cruise ship and had to have them mail our souvenirs to us! How pathetic. We went right back onto the ship after our encounter with Dot the dolphin. The next day we woke up in Castaway Cay again. I was happy to be back to the private island. We had a stingray feeding/snorkel. We were able to swim with them and pet them and feed em'. They were very tame and their barbs were cut off (like a finger nail apparently) so our risk of death was to a minimum. Before we had our stingray swim M dropped his snorkel mask in 15 feet of water in the ocean, so we had to do some treasure hunting. We found it and recovered it! It was a highlight. I shot M down to the bottom of the ocean with one strong heave to the backside. He shot down and back up with no problem! The next day we were back in port. It was only a 4 day and too short if you ask me. It did seem to go much slower than I anticipated and felt longer than it seems with me typing it all out.

We played Bingo, G sang some Disney Karaoke. There was a trivia in which my team scored 20/26. We came in second and I was mad. I missed easy questions. What is the oldest ride at Disney? My cruise brain picked Dumbo. It is the CAROUSEL! Then, how many dwarfs have beards? 6! Only Dopey doesn't. I will not ever forget these things. At least the other teams only let their kids answer, so my odds were better. The team that beat us had a 14 year old or something. I think they cheated.

Here are a few pics from the trip.

Disney Cruise

Deck

I've been helping build a deck for what seems like an eternity at this point.
I think this was day one. I will have to get more recent pictures as there is about 200 more square feet of deck that has been added.

Wright House

Mexico

I'm taking a break from cleaning to update the good ole' blog. So, I went to Mexico a few weeks ago, then I went on a Disney cruise and I leave on Friday to go to NYC to see the Yankees play in Yankee Stadium before they tear down a historic monument. I couldn't miss Yankee Stadium, it'd be a horrible tragedy!

So Mexico was fantastic! Sun, beach, good food and a pool. What more can one want in a vacation? The flight was delayed leaving Austin, so when we got to the counter the nice man upgraded us to FIRST CLASS!!! I have to say that I very much enjoyed getting to board the plane first and I was the one that had a book in one hand a glass of water in another while all the other peons boarded. Which made it that much more difficult to board the plane on the way home and walk past the people reading and drinking. It was fun while it lasted. The next few days consisted of sitting by the beach, walking in the ocean and then heading toward the pool for lunch and swimming. That was about it and it couldn't have been better. I did spot a Moray Eel in the rocks by the shore that was trying to get into the holes for some food. I was a little weary when getting into the ocean after that one. It was black and yellow and looked like a leopard. But less leg and more snake-esque.

Mexico

Leaving...on a Jet Plane...

I leave on Friday morning for Mexico! I'm nervous and excited. I'm hoping the transfer from the airport to the hotel isn't fatal. It's a company and certified through a travel agent, but it's Mexico and that scares me.

I will be adding another stamp to my passport though and that is exciting! :)

Pictures and posts to follow. I arrive back in Austin on Tuesday night.

Busy, Busy

Life feels like it is flying a million miles a minute. First and foremost I am remembering why I did not enjoy school very much. Drafting was so much fun. I cared about it, I enjoyed doing it. Writing essays and reading a million essays is NOT my idea of fun. Fortunately it is only 5.5 weeks long and will be over before I know it.

I've been helping build a deck on a house that T is flipping. It is one of the most enjoyable activities I have done in my entire life. I LOVE going to that house and sweating so much it drips off of my nose as I swing a sledgehammer trying to break up a concrete sidewalk. No, I would not like to have my life consist of waking up, driving a sledgehammer into the ground for 8 hours and going home only to do it again the next day, but so far, it has been a learning experience and very enjoyable. Although, the newly formed, 5, blisters on my hands are not pleasant, I am excited that I get to wake up at 8a tomorrow morning to finish the deck, paint some bedrooms and hang some cabinets. I guess that my dad's building genes made their way into my genetic make up. Go figure...

Wiped out and exhausted from 11 hours of building and painting, I am off to bed.

Paper

My english class starts this week. I found out today that I have an essay due on Sunday. I have four categories to pick a topic from. All I can do is sit here and stare at the computer. I'd rather not write about any of them.....

1) diets or exercise
2) other genders, races, or sexual preferences
3) technology, such as computers, cell phones, online college classes, the internet
4) money management (debt, credit, etc.)

Maybe I could write 500 words about the internet. It is, after all, more important that oxygen.

Junior Olympics!

My cousin was in the Junior Olympics last week in Dallas. I was able to take the day off of work and head up there for the day last Thursday. I was so proud of her. It was totally worth it. The day off, the drive, the exhaustion. She did a fantastic job and it was so very fun to watch. I don't think they ended up doing very well, but to get there in the first place is more than an accomplishment in my book.

She is only 16 and I hope that she sticks with Volleyball. I hope she finds a coach that believes in her and that she wants to do well for. She's a great kid. #15 is my little cousin.

I have forever thought of myself as semi tall. Not too tall, not too short, but pretty average. Walking through a convention center full of volleyball players dwarfed me. These girls were huge and fantastic!

Mandy Junior Olympics

4th of July Fun

About 6 years ago I went on a cruise with my co-worker, her boyfriend at the time and one of her friends that I roomed with. One night, after a day in Key West we were sitting in the hot tub and met three of the nicest people there could be. The following year we flew to their house in Lexington, KY for their annual 4th of July Pool Party. I haven't been back since, but this past weekend, I was able to go up there for a few days. It was a fantastic time. I was so excited to be up there. I arrived Friday night, we did a few errands for the party and then their friends (whom I also have become friends with) from Dallas arrived. We went to the store and got all the makings for Jello shots. I don't think there is anything more fun than making Jello shots. We made 250 of them! They were finished off the following day before it even got dark.

Saturday was the party. Water volleyball and lots of yummy food made up my day. I met tons of fantastic people. And had a blast.

Sunday we went to brunch and then after running around I ended up at the Lexington airport. Somehow, every single computer in the airport was down. My boarding pass was hand written at the counter. Then, we boarded the plane and heard over the PA that the radio was down and they couldn't get clearance, so we left rather late. An hour or so. Maybe two. I missed my connection in Dallas and ended up arriving in Austin 4 hours after my original eta. The cab pulled into the driveway around 1:30a. Needless to say, I was exhausted. Still am! Fortunately, the rains today canceled softball. I was able to relax.

My friends are hilarious. They are genuine, real people that I am so fortunate to have met in some hot tub on a cruise. Lifelong friends...

4th Pool Party - 2008

Fast Pitch is My Favorite

Last night was game #2 of my fast pitch season and i'm having a fantastic time. I am doing better than I ever thought I would. I have gone 4 for 5 in my last two games. I'm batting .800! It's fun now because i've only had 5 at bats. We'll see how the rest of the season goes. I also had 2 RBIs last night. The sad news is that my mitt broke last night. One of my friends that showed up to watch the game said "watch that hole in your glove KK" and whether she saw it or not, there was a hole. It isn't bad enough that the ball doesn't stay in the glove, but the string has broken and I think it's time to have it restrung for the 2nd time in it's life. OR, I could get a new glove. I'm thinking both are great options. Always good to have a backup, right?! Maybe at some point I can have someone take some pictures of our games. I'll try to take my camera next week so you can see the pics.

Only 3 More Classes...and I'm Sad???

I can't remember any time of my life that I didn't want my class to end. I suppose that means that i'm doing something that I enjoy. My brain is soaking up all of this information and i'm going to try to hold onto it tightly before I start my intermediate CAD classes in the Fall. I'm traveling too much the 2nd half of the summer and don't want to miss any classes, so i'll be taking an online English class. YAY! I think that will be a class I won't be sad to see end.

I turned in my mechanical assembly project (25% of my final grade) and only got a 92. It was disappointing, but i'm hoping my architecture project that I turned in today will be better. I spent tons of time checking and re-checking lines, dimensions, outlets, switches, etc. I was confident when I turned it in. I find out my grade next Thursday. One more week to wait. Oh, and I have already done all the projects that we're supposed to do next week. So I will be finding things to do next week for classes. I'd rather be ahead than trying to catch up. It's a nice feeling.

Mo Ranch

So, friends have gone to Mo Ranch, the Girl Scout troop that G is in has gone to Mo Ranch, but I had never been. That was, until this weekend. We left at 8:30a on Saturday and drove the 2.5 hours to Hunt, TX. It's a little town on the Guadalupe River. Which, the rivers in Texas are nothing like the rivers in GA. Maybe I only ever remember the Chattahoochee, but this water is as clear as the Caribbean! I could see all the fish around, the gross stuff on the bottom that you don't ever really want to touch and all the fantastic rocks that made up most of the stretch of river that Mo Ranch sits on. There were about 20+ of us. Lots of little kids. Some super cute 3 year olds that had the most interesting conversations 3 year olds can have. Mostly about how "yummy" the watermelon was at the BBQ last night.

There is a metal slide that is about 30 feet tall. You carry a 40 (approx)lbs wooden sled to the top and put about 2 inches of the bottom in a small little track and hold on. No, I did NOT do this. It sounded like a roller coaster that has just hit the peak of it's incline and is screaming towards that ground. Except at the end of this slide is the river that you go sliding across. The kids had a blast, the grown ups got very tired of carrying the sled to the top. They only have one as to prevent horrendous injury to anyone. It's really one of the most dangerous things i've seen, but according to 50% of the group, it was tons of fun.

There was fishing, canoeing, little rapids, swimming, a rope swing and smores. There were rows and rows of bunk beds in two rooms. One room was for the boys and one for the girls.

I learned how to throw a frisbee three different ways! I think that was the highlight of my trip. I never could figure out how people threw frisbees so far. I'm on it now.

I'm exhausted. Sun, walking, swimming and very little sleep has wiped me out.

Enjoy...

Mo Ranch

School Update

I love my class. I never in a million years thought that I would be using those words to describe school. My instructor is great, my classmates are ok. There are two really annoying girls that sit in front of me that look online on Ebay for things during class. Slackers....

I turned in my mechanical assembly project on Friday. It is worth 25% of my final grade. I start on my architectural log cabin drawings on Monday. I can't wait! That is also worth 25% of my final grade. The other 50% is from all of the drawings that we do in class that have been graded. Out of my last 5, I think I had 3 100s!!! He gives us a final proof to look at and check our work against before we turn ours in, but I guess some people don't pay that much attention to it. I've also done two extra projects that have each gotten me a +1 on my final grade. So things are going really well. I'm sad that there are only 7 more classes left. These last 5.5 weeks have flown by.

BUT, that means that I get to see my friends in Kentucky in less than TWO WEEKS!!! Which is super exciting. They have a 4th of July Pool Party every year and I haven't been able to go for the last few years. But, this year, I am fortunate enough to be able to fly up there.

Visit to GA #2

This was another fun trip. Hanging out with friends and family makes life so much fun. Sometimes I miss GA a lot. I miss all my great friends and the fam, of course.

We played a lot of the Wii, went to the Braves' game and just hung around.


Some of the gang playing Wii Tennis
Jill, Aunt Karla & Me on our way to see the Braves!
My boys
My Lil' Sis and Me

Homework...

This is the lettering homework

This is my first manual drafting project (not graded).

We turned in another one today that will be graded. I hope I did well!

Drafting

I started school on Tuesday. I am taking a technical drafting class. I have a protractor, special drafting pencil, an engineer's scale, some triangles and a drafting table at school. It is the coolest thing EVER! My homework this weekend is "lettering". I have to write the alphabet 3 times in 3 different sizes. It's the special drafting letters. I definitely could do that!

I had fast pitch softball practice this morning and am about to go for a bike ride. It's 97 degrees outside and i'm pretty certain there isn't a cloud in the sky. I don't mind being hot when i'm prepared for it.

Scout Update

Look at how big she is! It's so sad....

Georgia Visit #1

I went to Georgia the first weekend of May for my friends' Commitment Reception and was able to sneak a few moments on dad's new boat. I miss the lake so much. The water was super cold, I still couldn't do a lot on my hurt ankle, but the little sister and I were able to tube some. It was some of the most exhausting 4 minutes of my life!

The title is Visit #1 because i'm GOING BACK on Friday!!! YAY!!!

Jill, Jenn & Me on the Boat

"Don't Touch the Water!"

The Only Moment I Didn't have to Use Both Hands

The Skeletones

Last week was the big Concert for the kids that have been in their music camp for the last 6 or so weeks. I don't think they did too shabby for being 7 and just learning the instruments and performance tricks.

I made this movie when I was supposed to be working on the soccer movie. I needed a change of scenery and was trying to figure out some editing tricks with live footage.

Enjoy...

Student Life

I am registered for Summer classes! On my way and so excited to be starting all of this.

Canoeing Lady Bird Lake (Town Lake)

This past Saturday I went canoeing for the 2nd or 3rd time that i've lived in Austin. It was tons o' fun. There are humongous turtles. We saw on that was about 2 feet in diameter. It looked like something out of the prehistoric ages swimming down the river. We saw one group that was managing to sink two of their boats. Six people were in the water swimming while their boat was slowly filling with water. These are the same people that didn't quite know how to use their oars. We moved quickly away from them as to not by some way capsize our boat too just by being near them.

Downtown

Turtles sunning on the Tree

Lamar Street Bridge from Below


Canoeing Fun

Heading to Return the Canoe (Below Barton Springs)

Lately

Tonight, I am home. I am listening to the Dallas Stars playoff game on the tv as I do absolutely nothing on this fantastic computer of mine. My cats are rolling around on the ground attacking each other. No noises, hisses or sounds, just the sound of their bodies smashing the ground as they flail and try to be top cat. Oops, one of them just fell down the stairs. I think that game may be over...

My week? Monday, no softball, so the team went and played pool. Well, not the entire team, we were missing half, but it was fun. Tuesday, softball practice, then a game. Oh yeah, I also went and talk to the little community college here and will be attending this summer. Working towards some sort of architecture degree. I'm ready to bust this out and feel a little more complete about things. I never liked school...but I think i'm at a point that I want more out of myself.

I went and saw "21" last night. Good, entertaining movie. Not going to win any awards, but it was fun to watch.

And tonight...nothing. I should be working on a website, but i'm not. I'm obsessing over my fantasy baseball team. I lost the first week, pushed away my emotional ties to the Braves team and chunked the boys that weren't obtaining ANY points for me. I'm doing better this week. Today, I was up by 20 some points.

Here's the latest pic of the "baby". She's only 5.5 months old...it's crazy. I realized that all the pictures I have of her are of her lying down. The others are blurry...she's quick and all over the place.

New Website

I've created my own website. Business cards to follow. This is the preliminary design for the logo on the home page. Which do you like? A or B?

A:


or

B:


For the full view, click here for A or here for B.

Any other comments are welcome too. This is what I did all day today...it takes FOREVER!!!